My parents, lets see here. Parental Figures... Well, my parents got divorced around my 1st grade year. I do not remember too much, but I remember moving a few times after it happened.

We'll start with my dad. He's a small town guy. He's an alright dude. Just not too much of a dad. Now that I look back on it, I almost feel bad for being such a little Daddy's girl. I was such a little tomboy for such a long time in my life. I wanted to go hunting, play baseball, skateboard, and throw balls around with the pops.

But really. He wasn't there all that much. When I lived in Wilsonville he would pick me up every weekend. It sometimes would be fun weekends filled with fishing, pizza and TV time. Other times... it would just be pizza, TV, and dad drinking too much beer. It would make me upset. The older I got, the more it got to me. I would end up heading over to my grandparent's for the weekend instead. It was soon that the grandparents would pick me up for the weekend instead of my dad. And when I was at my grandparent's house I would just walk over to my dad's house and visit for short periods of time. Then I moved further away to Rhododendron, a whole 100+ miles away from my dad's. The visits became less and less frequent. Then, I got my own vehicle and would travel down there myself on school vacations. I think my dad only came up once or twice to actually come and get me from my house up here.

When I started going to college, the less I ended up in my father's presence. I finally did realize though, that he isn't going to change. He drinks. A lot. End of story. But he is still my dad. And I still have random encounters with his sober side, which I love. I love my dad, don't get me wrong, but dealing with a drunk dad all the time gets frustrating, tiresome, and quite frankly, lame. So after I had this realization I really came to be in a better place with my feelings about him. I didn't cry because he forgot to come to my ____, and neither did I get upset. It wouldn't ruin me.

My dad and I have a ton in common though. Stubborn, mostly. That and we judge people by the way they look. I am just saying. It's called people watching. And can get pretty hilarious. We've got big mouths that we rarely are able to hold back even though it is not the appropriate time or place for it. It's hard work. Haha. We have the same sense of humor, and apparently I get my short, stalkiness from his side too... In family gatherings it seems as though my dad and I are on a team somehow. We are just like the normal ones compared to all the rest. Or at least the coolest ones!

Mom. After the divorce mom had custody of me. It took me some time to realize that obviously the court had some sorts of smarts about this because... really, I am awesome. And in some twisted ways, I owe it to her. Mom always made sure there was enough macaroni and cheese and hamburger helper for me. I always had what I needed, and really... that's all that matters. She worked super hard to maintain any job and make sure that she and I both were provided for.

For a long time, I would threaten that I wanted Dad to have custody of me (before I really realized the drinking problem). And I don't know why I did that. Maybe just out of frustration, those little deep jabs, you know us kids are good at when we get into fights with those we love most. But let me tell you. I am 100% positive that I would NOT be the person I am today without my mother. I am also 100% happy that my dad never had custody of me.

A long time ago I would cringe when people told me that I looked like my mom. Now I just nod, even though I still don't believe them... But we have enough mannerisms and funny language that if you were around us... You would just know that she raised me. I call her Momma Chicken, and she calls me many things like... Cow Pie, Chubbs (I have never been chubby... this nickname was around forever, even when I was a toothpick... I dont know why she ever started calling me it... but I answer to it haha), Chubbalumps, and there are more. I am definitely my mother's daughter.

I usually tell my mom everything. We are pretty damn close like that. You see, my mom is young, for being my mom. She is only 43 now, and I am turning 23 this year. 20 years difference, almost exactly. I think young mothers have this automatically closer bond with their children. Maybe it is just me, but that's my theory. But When I was living on campus (a little over an hour from home) I would call my mom almost every day. And every day, we would be on the phone for hours at a time. I definitely missed my mom when I was not living at home. (I definitely need to get her set up with skype so that we are able to talk when I am in Korea!)

I always thought that my mom was a bit weird. But now, I thank her for it... even though sometimes... when I give her funny looks, it just means I am probably tired or cranky. But she and I can have some great times just listening to some music and dancing around the house like we are both 10 again.

I love my mom. And even though we have quite a few tiffs, especially when I am hungry. She understands me. She raised me. She KNOWS me. She is the reason why I am me. :) Thanks Mom.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Hi there! I'm Adrienne, a young mid-twenties, US Army Spouse living in Germany. This is my personal blog where I share with you parts of my life that are important to me, art, family, travel, and much more. Even though the Army is a big part of my life, I don't blog about it often. There are enough Army Wife/Military Wife Bloggers out in the blogsphere that anything I would have to say would be pretty redundant.